serpent

Meaning

Noun

1. A snake, especially a large or dangerous one.
2. A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
3. An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
4. A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To wind or meander
2. (obsolete) To encircle.

Hyphenated as

ser‧pent

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsɜːpənt/

Etymology

From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder.
Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as English serpent.